‘We would never do that’: Richmond officials warn of impersonation scams

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Courtney Wright was out of town on a business trip, when she got a phone call that made her step out of a meeting. Wright says a gentleman on the other line told her that she failed to report for jury duty.

"He basically just said, 'I'm reaching out to you because you, unfortunately, were summoned for jury duty and you missed that, and now there is a fine and a misdemeanor citation associated with your name,'" Wright said.

It's incidences like this that have prompted Richmond officials to issue a warning to the public.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Richmond City Sheriff Antionette Irving, Commonwealth Attorney Colette McEachin and Police Chief Rick Edwards joined forces to warn people of common tactics scammers have been using.

"There's scams of all types," Irving said. "Whether it's someone [saying] you missed jury, you have a warrant for your arrest ... whether there's an E-ZPass scam, whether it is a Supreme Court scam."

Wright told 8News that she'd never been called for jury duty before and thought there might have been some truth to the phone call.

"It made sense that I would have missed something in the mail because I had recently moved. And then he gave me two citation numbers that he had me write down and repeat back to him," Wright said. "So that felt very legitimate."

Wright says the caller seemed very emphatic and convincing. She spent about 20 minutes on the phone until she began to realize that something was off.

"He said, 'To get this to Richmond quickly, you need to go to a Walmart, a Walgreens or a CVS.' And that's when I went, 'Wait a second, that's definitely not real,'" Wright said.

Officials say these scammers may have your name, phone number and address in an attempt to sound convincing. If the caller asks you for money and personal information such as your bank account or social security number, that's the easiest way to tell if it's a scam.

"Remember that we would never call you to tell you that you have not done something, and you can get out of it by paying for it," Irving said. "We would never lure you to any Walmart or any location to ask you for any money or funds or gift cards. We would never do that."

Officials are warning people to avoid answering calls from unknown numbers. If you happen to receive a phone call, text message or email that you think could be a scam, RCSO says do not provide the requested information. Instead notify your local Sheriff’s Office, the Clerk of Court's office or the U.S. District Court in your area.